NEW YORK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7422, 7 June 1902, Page 2

NEW YORK.

The Costliest City ia tho "World. (Leslie's Weekly.) Only one public official in the United States handles more money than tine comptroller of New York City, and that official is the Secretary of the Treasury. Th© government of Greater New York costs more every year than the combined expenses of the Governments of half a ; dozen, States. From the year's beginning to the end the comptroller of the metropolis receives and disburses about 600 million— more than half a billion— dollars. Half of this is paid into *he Treasury thorough taxes and other sources of revenue, and half is paid out in the running expenses of the city t a large part of which is expended in salaries and wages of city officers and employees; for there aie 40,000 persona on the city's pay roll — persons' enough to make a very goodsized city in. themselves. While the comptroller of Greater New York ihandles 6UO million dollars, the Secretary of the Treasury has the custody of between 700 and 800 millions. This comparatively small difference emphasises the financial importance of New York, and it makes particularly prominent the responsibility which rests on the shoulders of tie comptroller of this city. Where the aggregate is so largo,, an. apparently unimportant change in the system of 'handling -the city's funds increases or diminishes toe city's expenses hundreds of thousands of dollars, and, therefore, is a great injury or aXgbbat deneJtt to thb taxpayers. Several changes in the right direction have been made by the Hoc Edward M. Grouty the present city comptroller^ Who has been in office only three months. The effect of the changes inaugurated by joint is already felt, and although the new methods are simple in themselves their effect-, directly and indirectly t means many thousands of dollars every year to New York s citizens. Comptroller Grant is a business man who knows that economy and effectiveness are not foreign to each other. He is a man of ideas and of action. Soon after the new .comptroller took charge of the financial affairs of the city he observed a very strange irregularity ia the method of collecting taxes, and he at once devised a plan to save the city nearly 1,500,000d0l a year. The facts in this case are these : The city's income from the tax levy, which becomes due Jan. 1, begins only on the first day of Ootabeu in each year, so thait the city, between the first of January and the first of October, is without any resources on hand with, whioh to pay the expenses of the government. The result is that the city Ihas to borrow money to pay these expenses. The amount is" from lifty to sixty million dollars a year and is increasing, of course, as the city rapidly grows. For the use of this money the city has to pay 34 or 4 pen cent interest. Then when the taxes come in, in Ootober, November and December, this debt is paid off, so that at the 'beginning of the next yea* the city starts out wifh an empty treasury. New York is thus constantly living on its future income and thereby is a very large loser. And the loss is . PAID IN THB END BY THB TAXPAYERS. In the city budget of 1902 there is an item of 962,600d01, the estimated amount of interest on the money to be borrowed to pay current expenses. This is part of <t*he 1,b00,000d0l loss to the taxpayers. In addition, there is lost the interest which, would accrue on its deposits, if the city had its money on 'hand during the year-. .If the tax -budget of more than ninety millions were collected during the first of the yeax instead of near the close, the city would have constantly a balance of twenijy-five or twenty-six million dollars in the bank, on ■which it would be drawing interest amounting to 500,000d0l or 600,000d0l a year. So, under the old system of delaying tihe collection of taxes from January to Ootober, the city loses about' one million, dollars in interest paid out and about 'half that amount in interest; which it would receive if this delay did 1 not exist: That makes the aggregate of one and a half million dollars. Observing this opportunity to make more economical the city government, Mr Grout Ihas started to put into effect a new. system. His plan is to change the date of levyasog taxes from the first Monday in October to the first iMonday in February. But this change is to be mode gradually, so that taxpayers will not suffer inconvenience. The penalty for delinquent taxes is to begip earlier, month by month, each year until 1909. During that year and thereafter discount -will be received for payment of taxes only in February instead of October as at .present ; the flat period, when taxes are paid at their face value, wall cover March instead of November ; amd the delinquent period will begin on. the first of April each year instead of Deo. 1 as now, and tihe people will be saving one and a half million dollara a year amd, have the satisfaction besides of knowing tihat THEIE CITY 13 CONDUCTED ON A BUSINESS BASIS. Many men who are full of good ideas have apt the ability of execution. Mr Grout has given evidence of the possession of both. Another plan which 'he ihas adopted is caving time and 1 expenses for thousands 4f city employees, and through that, indirectly, money for the taxpayers. Tihat is •ijhe* payment of city employees by cheque.' .Two-thirds of the city employees receive their salary 4 monthly. Undei the old system there were certain designated places in each borougih where employees went to receive their cheques. There they would! stand in line, waiting their turn. Frequently each man would lose three hours or more on every pay day, riding from !his place of employment to the paying office and ia waiting his turn at the cheque window. For ilia wasted time the city waa paying. In the aggregate it amounted to many thousands of days in the year. Besides ' this, it included, too, the expense of car-fare for employees. T!he old system was particularly obnoxious to the school teachers. Whenever the pay roll was ready for the schools, telephone messages would be sent to the police precincts of the city and the policemen on their posts would notify the school principals. The principals would then ! leave their schools and go to the place where the cheques were delivered. Each principal took all the cheques for the teachers in Ms school. Following this plan many principals were obliged to travel many miles, wasting the time which should be occupied in their schools, spenddng their own money for oar-fare, and making; themselves messengers for th© delivery of pay cheques. While one principal was absent on such a mission notiN long ago, a wild panic ocin his school, placing the lives of the children in danger. Had he been present, the trouble would not have happened* There would frequently, be false ru-

I mours heard by the teachers that their pay f cheques were ready ; then the principal > would be sent on a wild-goose errand. The * fault was at once corrected by Mr Grout, > by the delivery of all the teachers' pay : cheques by express. On the pay day of * every month, express waggons visit all the ' four hundred and twenty-six schools in the t city and deliver promptly the cheques for ■ the teachers. These cheques are to be made payable at banks near the sdhools where > the teachers are employed, so that they > may obtain their cash conveniently if they * wish to do so. Janitors of the schools, > who formerly were obliged to leave their 1 work and travel many miles for their ■ money, are now paid 1 from tihe express pay i' waggons also. In a city of sucK" immense 1 distances a? New York this means AN ENORMOUS SAVING OF TIME AND * EXPENSE. And\ the city departments who>ge em- , ployees formerly went a long distance and L stood in lane awaiting their pay now send an accredited messenger to the comptroller's office, and this messenger carries the pay cheques for all those in the de- ; partment which 'he represents to the men where they are at work, so that a man may receive his money while sitting at work at his desk and thus lob 6 no time for which the taxpayers are paying. In many other ways ihas the new comptroller devised ways of saving money for those who support the government of New York City. One of these should be mentioned. The purpose is to prevent all favouritism in 4ihe purchase of supplies for the city. • He has established a bureau of information on current prices of all goods purchased by the city. When any department buys supplies and the bills go before the comptroller, reference to the tabulated catalogue of current prices will show whether or not the proper price was paid by the city. On this list are 4000 items — everything from penholders to --paint. There are many otiher ways in whioh business and straightforward principles have been applied in the administration of Comptroller Grout of which the limits of this article will not admit discussion. But it is interesting to observe the prompt exhibition of superiority of an administration of business men over an administration of politicians.